Texas Sen. Ted Cruz hypes up Kari Lake, Blake Masters at San Tan Valley rally

With early voting a week away in Arizona, Republicans are counting on some political star power to get their candidates an added boost. On Sunday, former president Donald Trump will rally for his hand-picked candidates in Mesa. On Wednesday, another high-profile Republican came to town.

Sen. Ted Cruz from Texas was in San Tan Valley, where he brought his Taking Back America Bus Tour to a popular bar and grill. He praised GOP nominee for governor Kari Lake and the party's Senate candidate Blake Masters, who is challenging Democratic incumbent Mark Kelly. It's a race that could determine which party controls the upper chamber. "I've heard a number of people say he's a nice guy. You're not a nice guy," Cruz said of Kelly.

The Texas senator brought his heated rhetoric to the state as the latest CBS poll shows both of Arizona's top races are tight. The survey said Kelly leads Masters by three points, while Lake and her Democratic opponent Katie Hobbs are dead even in the governor's race. "I'm telling you my opponent who too afraid, she won't show up on the stage with me, she shouldn't get the job," said Lake at the rally. Lake delivered her standard speech, attacking Hobbs for refusing to debate while promising to secure the border, which includes finishing the wall.

Meanwhile, Masters kept his attack up on Kelly by trying to link him to President Joe Biden, who is unpopular in Arizona, according to the latest polling results. "Biden and Mark Kelly, they are one and the same. They are joined at the hip because Mark Kelly supports Joe Biden's policies every single time it counts," Masters said. Thursday is a big night for the U.S. Senate race. Kelly and Masters are scheduled to debate each other in the one and only debate of this race.

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